


A Comrade’s Song –  The Crimson Eyed Woman and the Violet Dragon

by Featherine_Aurora



Series: Taroverse fics [1]
Category: Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard, NieR: Automata (Video Game), Nier Gestalt | Nier
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Character Development, Dark Fantasy, Dragon Riders, Dragons, F/M, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 22:22:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18837952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherine_Aurora/pseuds/Featherine_Aurora
Summary: A woman known to many as One has become a rebel, fighting against a despotic King and an Empire that rules over all the Kingdoms. She seeks to overthrow all the Kings and the Empire itself, to save the world from injustice, though her path ahead will be filled with strife and hardship. She does have one ally, the dragon Gabriella, who has deemed her cause worth fighting for. Together, they will try to change the world, fighting many foes, while four others who seem to have the same mysterious abilities as One act according to their own plans and ambitions.Alternate Universe Story Making Use of Drakengard/Nier Characters and lore elements.





	A Comrade’s Song –  The Crimson Eyed Woman and the Violet Dragon

 

**_In this land, blessed by the Gods, the Empire continues to rein gloriously over the five Kingdoms that divide this land. We are all united in harmony and peace under the five Sovereigns and the great Emperor. That is, apart from the five infamous rebels, one in each of the five kingdoms, that cause endless strife and unrest. Our people seek to live in peace, yet they seek war and claim us unjust._ **

**_The rebel known to us as One has been raiding camps belonging to our lord, the King of Fyri. She has been causing more and more problems. She has been spreading propaganda and encouraging unrest amongst the populace of a number of villages with her slander. She has convinced far too many that the King is unjust and does not care for his subjects, that he even neglects and abuses them. It is up to us to defend the honour of the King and bring her to justice. However, her recent defeat of the troops sent into the southern forest is cause for concern. It is important we find a way to stop her from.._ **

 

* * *

 

  
A blonde haired woman finished reading the parchment and then put it back in it’s place.

_That was a rather ornate way of giving a report._

It was also useless. She was after what information she could gather that would help her. She had already looted what supplies she could from the base. This was a task she was used to and had done it quickly. Now she was after what had drawn her to this base in particular. There was a good chance it would have vital reports regarding enemy activities, plans and resources. There was only so much time for her task until the rest of the garrison came back.

Her companion was drawing them off with an attack elsewhere. She had told them to do their best to keep the enemy engaged and ensure they did not return.

As for those left here… her weapon had ended their lives.

_I wish sparing lives was possible more often. But they had their duty and responsibilities. They could hardly just leave and go back to their families._

She sighed and looked for another spot to search. This room was used to store various documents and was located deep within this fort. She’d searched from right to left, with there being shelves going from the front of the room to the back of it. There were also shelves on the left and right walls. The wall at the end of the room had no shelving. Instead, there was a space at the back for a desk. Presumably for the unfortunate soul who was in charge of this place. Fortunately for her, whomever that was had done a fairly good job at organizing the assorted parchments that were here. In respect of that effort and diligence, she did her best to handle everything with care, even with the gauntlets she wore. She’d already put a fair number of them into a bag to take with her. But there were so many that finding those of potential use to her was still a challenge.

Then she heard the sound of boot steps on the stone floor.

They were a bit of distance away. The woman could tell that. She had always had abnormally sensitive senses, though this had gotten worse over the years. There was a point where having stronger senses and being able to hear and see and taste things to a degree others did not became a liability. She had adapted as well as she could and it had thankfully plateaued recently. There were advantages, though. For example, she could hear the footsteps of others from further away than normal people ever could. Now, she could hear them in the building, spreading through it.

_It’s time to leave. I was hoping to have enough time to get everything and be gone before the garrison returned._

She took her weapon off from its strap which hung it on her back and placed it on the floor. She then took the bag and, after lifting up her white cloak, put its strap over her chest. The bag was now on her back, under her cloak. She then picked up her weapon. Unfortunately, it would need to be used today. The large chakram, shaped like an encircled black cross, was wide enough that it reached from the floor to her torso when it was touching the ground. It’s bulk meant no human could wield it. But she could.

_Whatever I am._

She left the room she was in through its only door. She was immediately in a poorly lit corridor, along which were a number of doors, including the one she had just exited. She turned left and darted down it. The fort, made entirely of stone, was a labyrinth of poorly lit and thin corridors which lead to an assortment of rooms for the garrison.

_And that garrison is back. Hopefully, not many have returned._

While darting through one corridor, she could hear noises at the end of it from behind the double door there. It was the enemy. The room at the end of was one of a number that anyone trying to leave would likely need to go through. By having troops at them, they could ensure any intruders would not be able to escape.

She moved near that door and waited. She listened to the noises of the soldiers. They were doing their best to be quiet, having heard her approach. They would have seen the bodies of their fellow soldiers, those who had stayed behind. So they would be ready for the possibility that they’d encounter enemies. That was why they were positioned there. They likely hoping to ambush her, judging by their silence. But she could tell where they were positioned through her hearing. Even when trying to be silent, it was not enough. When she was willing to drop the habits and training she had done to allow her to function, she could hear even most minute noises.

She reached for the double doors and she threw them open with such energy that they were made to swing all the way to the wall, in spite of them being metal doors. Sure enough, as her hearing had indicated, there had been a soldier placed by each of the double doors, right next to the wall. The likely aim was to have them attack the intruder from behind at they entered. Instead, the two soldiers each had a metal door hit them and promptly take them out, hitting them into the wall they had been lying in wait next to.

There were five other soldiers formed around the door in a line, this room being a large square one. She had been aware of them too and darted to the left side of the line, thrusting her chakram forward. The soldier at the end of the line didn’t have a moment to react before it carved deep into their chest. She then yanked it, swinging it back towards the soldier next to him, all of them now to her right. She parried a blow from the soldier and then slashed his chest, the sheer force of her chakram killing him in an instant. Two of his comrades rushed forward to attack, the third staying back. She decided to alternate between her targets, using her ability to spin even a weapon such as this to her advantage. She brought down alternating right and left blows, attacking the two of them at once. It was a bit risky, but she was not in a position where she could just focus on one enemy. She had the advantage of enough speed and strength to fight both of them for bit like this, switching back and forth between the two.

Then the third soldier took his chance. While she was fighting the other two, he moved to her left and thrust his sword at her, nearly skewering her. She noticed the foe just in time and side stepped the blow, moving to her right. She then brought her weapon down on his extended arm. With a loud scream, he fell backwards and landed with a clash of armour as his severed arm did the same. That startled the other two for a moment and gave her a chance. When she had entered the room, she had noticed that there was a door on both the left wall and right wall. That left wall which was now behind her. She ran to the door there, swung it open and carried on running. Behind her, she heard the soldiers she’d left behind yell out.

“It’s her! The rebel called One!”

“We can’t let her escape!”

She groaned inwardly. _Couldn’t the Empire have come up with better names for the feared five rebels than just numbering us from one to five?_

It was something she often thought when she heard the name that had been given to her. But she had something far more important to focus on, surviving and escaping. She ran and ran through more and more poorly lit narrow corridors, relying on what details she had been able to memorize about the place when she had entered in to guide her in leaving. Along the way, there had been enemy troops, just one or two at a time. The corridors ensured this was the case. The fort itself was aiding her in this situation, since it was designed around the garrison keeping people out. Needing to swarm a single stronger enemy who had infiltrated the place was something they’d not have even considered. Tight corridors, meant to restrict the numbers of large armies so that a small garrison could not easily drowned in numbers, now served to limit the garrison in fighting One.

So, one or two at a time was the most that could hope to engage her in any fight along these corridors. Even then, the limited space still ensured she had the advantage with her superior fighting ability and large weapon. In such a place, the sheer force that One could bring to bear was enough. She just needed to be aggressive, to slash and stab and smash until the foe in front of her was broken. Then she stepped over their corpses and to do that again and again. She’d break her way through in a very literal way.

 _This is grotesque_. But she needed to escape. The alternative was to accept her own death, now or later at an execution, and the end of her struggle. So, there was no choice.

_I must keep moving forward, even if it means going down this path of brutality._

Some of her foes were lucky in that One could, if she gained enough momentum through running down a corridor, use the large chakram to ram against them and use blunt force to knock them down. Then she’d just pummel them again and again until they could no longer fight her. She’d then step over them and carry on running.

Eventually, she found her path lead her to the entrance to another room. She opened the door and was met with a long rectangular room. The soldiers in front of her had bunched together and had formed a wall across the room with their shields. It was a solid defensive barrier and a good use of their numbers and resources.

_Smart of them._

One took a moment to ready herself and then charged forward.

She would have been troubled, if she had been a normal human. But she wasn’t. So she used her gauntleted hands, combined with sheer physical force, and smashed the soldier in front of her back a good metre, sending him crashing onto his back. In that moment, there was a gap and One charged right through it. She spun around, faster than her enemies could react, swinging her chakram in a circle. In an instant, in which crimson blood sprayed into the air, two of the soldiers were dead.

She then ran off, leaving the stunned soldiers behind. Her aim, after all, was to flee. She could carry on and hopefully had given the enemy pause.

She continued to hack and slashed through any who stood in her way. There was no way she could give up now. She needed to escape. Soon, she was nearly the entrance. She exited the fort itself and entered a courtyard, surrounded by tall walls. This was the last thing in her way before the main gate. A large group of soldiers had been placed there. But they knew that her getting here meant she had likely cut through many soldiers as tough as them. They knew there was a good chance they were going to die.

“Oh god, what do we do? She’s going to kill us all”

Such were the murmurs in the ranks of this group.

Fighting the common soldiers was never good. Yet that was often the only option. Either she fought or she would die. Any she might spare might curse her for it in the end when they looked upon their dead comrades or suffered punishments for not having killed her.

“I don’t want to die. Why are we going to die here?”

She couldn’t ignore this. She needed to at least try to give them a chance. So she slowly approached the group and, while still a bit of distance away, yelled “Just leave! I have no interest in taking your lives!”

All she could do was say that. She didn’t expect any results. Maybe, if she was lucky, one or even some of the soldiers might take this pause as a chance to sneak off. But those soldiers here were hardly here because they wanted to be there. For them, it was also time to fight or die, either now or later. Still, she needed to try.

“I merely intend to leave. At this point, it should be clear that you can’t resist me. No one should doubt that you did your best from what is here. You fought hard and did your duty. Even the harshest Imperial commander will not doubt that. So, just let me pass and you can at least end this without any more casualties”.

The soldiers clearly were considering her offer. There was not much chance of this working, but One was a pragmatist. If her goal required violence, then she would make use of it. But she was not bloodthirsty. Her goal was to defeat the Empire, not to massacre helpless soldiers. So, she would give them the chance while she could. The chance to just go from this. It might make any difference in the long term for these soldiers. But it was the right thing to do, to at least leave them with a chance of a future.

It didn’t work.

One of the soldiers, the leader judging from the quality and type of his armour, charged at her. The man had to know he had no chance. But that didn’t matter. Perhaps he felt that he had his duty to perform. Perhaps he felt he needed to avenge his comrades. Perhaps he simply felt he could not leave for one reason or another. Whatever his reasoning, he had decided he would stand and fight. His fellow soldiers, seeing the act, decided to follow him. They likely felt they could not abandon him, whatever they felt about this fight.

It was courageous, whatever the reason. But it was also hopeless.

Their leader’s charge was halted as One flung her chakram right at him. The other soldiers hoped to take advantage of that and avenge their comrade. But One was faster than them and also strong enough to pull the chakram out of the body of their leader with a quick pull. She then swung the weapon in a semi-circle. In a swift slash, the chakram tore across the chests of most of her foes, stopping at the end as the soldier at the end of her swing was able to block the blow just in time.

_Hmm, he’s quick._

Not that it meant much. One’s response was to launch her left foot at his right leg. The pain from that caused her foe to flinch. Then the chakram was swung once more, at his neck. Dark crimson blood dripped out and he dropped to the floor, choking on his own blood.

She glanced around. More corpses had been added to the pile. She had been hoping to avoid this, but she had failed when she had not managed to leave before they returned.

_How pointless._

At least One could now leave. Her companion would be annoyed if One took her time and left her waiting around, wondering about what had happened. She opened the gates and ran out, quickly going into the nearby forest.

She had quite a bit of distance to trek in a short amount of time.

 

* * *

 

  
In a remote spot deep in the forest, One collapsed in exhaustion next to the fire she had just made. She had walked quite a bit of distance to get to this spot, a decent hiding place that had been decided upon in advance. She had then spent quite a bit of time gathering wood for a fire and then a bit more to get that fire to start.

_Ah, the simple pleasures._

One had enhanced senses. For her, the cold felt worse than it did for other people. It also meant that her meagre fire felt like the glowing hearth of a home. She savoured this warmth.

It was in a respect to that satisfaction that her companion allowed her a few minutes of quiet, before declaring “You know that I could have set that alight in an instant, right? I could have made a better one too. A few swings from me and you’d have had a few trees down for wood”.

“I could hardly ask that of you. I would never insult a dragon like that”.

“Yet you’re happy to ride on my back like I’m a common horse all the time. You do see the really obvious contradiction there, right?”

The mocking bite in her companion’s voice was something she was used to. Dragons were hardly inclined to humour the silly whims or ideas of humans, at least not without letting their feelings be known. Gabriella was definitely inclined to let her thoughts be known. But One treasured that, the words of the dragon that was currently resting a few metres from her.

“You’re right. Sorry. It may help me, but perhaps I shouldn’t abuse your generosity so much”.

Gabriella let out a thoroughly exasperated groan. “Oh god, you’re dense”. The purple dragon got up and, in an instant, knocked a thick branch off a tree with one of her winged arms. She then gave it a few quick slices from her claws. “There. Plenty of firewood. Now, try not being so stupid in the future. You’re my partner. I’m not going to let you freeze to death”.

One felt really stupid now.

“You did hear me, right?”

“Yes. I’m not going to be that stupid again. I promise”.

“You’d better. It would just be humiliating if I had my partner die because of that”.

Gabriella laid back down. She had hardly been facing anything that could have challenged her. Yet fighting a garrison and keeping it busy for as long she did, then returning to this remote location was still hard work. Even a dragon might want to rest a bit.

“Have you eaten recently?”

The thought suddenly occurred to One as she chewed on a dry biscuit, food taken from the fort. When had Gabriella last eaten? It was something her companion handled on her own. She was a dragon. But One was a curious woman by nature.

“Yes”. There was a pause, then Gabriella added “You’re thinking about something pointless, aren’t you?”

“Probably, yes”.

“If you’re going to admit that much, you might as well tell me the rest. Otherwise, you’re just being pointlessly mysterious and just stirring my curiosity to be an ass.”

“I’m wondering how dragons manage to sustain themselves, given their size”.

“Oh. So, I was right”. Gabriella snorted. “Fine, I’ll give you an answer. Yes, a dragon can find enough plenty of creatures large enough to feed it. For example, there are ogres. They’re gross, but edible”.

“You eat ogre meat?”

“Hey, you can hardly be picky about what you eat when you’re starving. You just pointed out how dragons need a lot of food to survive. So, it’s either eat ogre meat or die. It’s just like how you’re eating… what even is that thing you’re eating made of?”

“It’s a biscuit made of… ”. One took a moment to go through the different items she could recognise as being in the biscuit in her head, then listed them to Gabriella.

“You see? That sounds awful, but you still ate it”.

“It’s not that bad. Not compared to ogre meat”.

“True”. Gabriella sighed. “That stuff is just awful. How does a creature manage to taste that bad?” She then added “Don’t answer that. You probably know why and I don’t care. Knowing will probably make it seem even more disgusting”.

The two sat in silence.

“Wait, how do you even have an idea how ogre meat tastes like?”

One could not answer that. In fact, she was doing her best to hide her embarrassment.

“You’ve at least tried ogre meat. That’s my guess. Am I right?”

There was no point in lying. “...yes”.

As expected, Gabriella was less than impressed. “Why would a human even try ogre meat?”

“Desperation. Plus, I’m not human, remember?”

“You’re close enough for me. I’m just going to say that now. No angsting about that for today, okay? I really don’t want to deal with that again”. It was Gabriella’s particular way of offering reassurance.

“I’d rather not either”. One then took another bite out of her meal, for lack of a better way to describe it. “My point is that killing an ogre for food is hardly the challenge to me that it is for a normal person. So, with that much meat, why not?”

Even if it was utterly repulsive. Ogre meat was known to be disgusting and One had an enhanced sense of taste to make it even more disgusting. It had taken a lot of work to make it possible for her to consume it.

“Because you like being alive?” Gabriella declared that with annoyance at what she clearly saw as another instance of human stupidity. “Did you even know if ogre meat was poisonous to humans or not? Please don’t just say “I’m not human”. You’re still mortal”.

“There are actually some records of humans eating ogre meat”.

“Really?”

“Yes. It was not worth the challenge of the kill, according to what I read, but they did it and their notes seemed accurate enough to not be mere lies”.

Gabriella laughed. “Of course the answer would be that a book told you it was okay”.

_And of course you’d be able to talk about doing research in such a way that it sounds stupid._

It worked. She did feel a bit stupid.

“At least you didn’t die”. With her usual mix of confidence and annoyance, she then said “But if you ever think of trying anything like that in the future, ask me for advice. I’m smarter than many of the writers of the stuff you’ve read combined. So, maybe ask the wise dragon right here about whether something might kill you or not”.

After a minute, One said “Okay. I will”. She then went to a spot where she had hidden some possessions and took out one of a few books she currently had in her possession.

Her companion gave a sigh. “You aren’t going to be moody about me insulting your books again?”

Did she really come off that way? As someone who was moody about things like that?

“Hey, are you still listening? Don’t zone out in the middle of a conversation”.

“Sorry”. One then asked, “Have I really come off as moody?”

“Yes. Yes, you have”.

“Ah. Sorry”.

“Just try to act better in the future”. Gabriella was clearly doing her best to let her concern show in her voice. “Look, that you value knowledge is something I respect about you. But you really need to pay more attention to the world outside of books. You make me worry a lot and I really do not need the stress. You’re clever, at least for a human. You have ambitions that interest me. But those things can lead you into bad places without some common sense”.

Gabriella was right. One did close herself off from the world and get lost in books. A side effect of her enhanced senses was that all the sounds and smells of the world could be overwhelming. Combined with her love of knowledge, it was easy for her to get lost in her books and to block out the rest of the world.

“Well, I have you around. I’ll always ask the wise dragon here for advice if I need to”.

Gabriella sighed. “That’s not as witty as you think it is. I’ll help you, sure. Anything you might ask will be no trouble for a dragon like me. But I can’t watch you all the time and humans like you don’t come around often. I really don’t want you dying, especially because of something stupid. This fight of yours is enough of a risk”.

One had no retort. “You’re right”.

“Of course I am”. Unsurprisingly, Gabriella accepted the concession with a total lack of humility. “So take care of yourself better and don’t do something so stupid as eating things just because a book says it’s fine again, okay?”

“Yes, understood”.

“Good. I’ll be keeping you to that”. Gabriella visibly relaxed in spite of declaring that in her usual tone of sassiness mixed with annoyance. “You did get what you were after, right? I hope I didn’t fly around fighting a bunch of troops shooting at me with cannons for nothing”.

One took the bag with the parchments off her back. “I managed to get enough to consider this mission a success. I’ll give a more thorough read of what I obtained. I’ll be able to tell you what our next mission will be soon”.

“Good to hear”. Gabriella closed her eyes. “Do remember to actually get some sleep”.


End file.
